Partnering with a local coffee shop, participants got to hear book talks that paired with a variety of coffee drinks! The coffee shop owner (who is also on our library board) chose six drinks to promote during the event, and for each drink, I came up with five books I felt paired well with it. I chose a variety of genres, reading levels and story lines.
Advanced Planning
When working on this event, we had three primary goals in mind:
- To introduce people to a broad range of books, different genres, author backgrounds, publish dates, etc., that they might not have normally picked up.
- To reach a different group of people who may not have come to the library in a while.
- To partner with a local business to establish a positive working relationship with them!
We started planning this event about a month in advance, but it could be done in a shorter time frame. I first met with the coffee shop owner to determine which drinks she wanted people to try. She chose two different drip coffees (different roasts), a cold brew, a latte and two types of teas they also serve. Then I tried them and we collaborated on picking five "vibes" that matched the drinks. (See the slide deck and flyer for more info.)
I created a slide deck on Canva, with each drink getting two slides. The first was about the drink, and I had the cafe owner talk more in depth about the brewing process. Then the second slide was the five books that paired with that drink. I then made a sheet participants could take home with them, listing all the books and drinks, so they could take notes during the presentation and recall the books they were interested in reading.
For this event, we had participants register and closed registration two days before the program so that we could let the cafe owner know the number of participants in advance.
Marketing
We promoted the event on our social media, in our newsletter and through word of mouth. Because we were collaborating with the coffee shop, we shared our fliers/media release materials with them so the marketing was consistent. We also explained the event and who it was for to the baristas so they could answer any questions their customers might have. After our program, the feedback survey we sent out showed that most people heard about the event through word of mouth, either from baristas or librarians.
Budgeting
Because the owner of the coffee shop is on our library board, she agreed to waive the space rental fees and only charged us for the drinks. We charged participants $10 each and used that money to cover the coffee shop's invoice for the drinks. The drinks were all sample-sized, so cheaper than a full-priced drink, and the total cost was around $7.50 per participant. If you wanted to do this more cheaply, you could choose fewer drinks!
Day-of-event Activity
For setting up and running the event, it was just the cafe owner and me. We set it up at the coffee shop, which has a back area that can be closed off for private events. We arranged three tables in a U shape, with a TV screen at the front, so we could run the slide deck presentation where all participants could see.
Program Execution
We had room for up to 24 people, and 14 signed up. I think the thing that inhibited more participants was the event being held at 8:30 am on a Saturday. We held it then to avoid the coffee shop's busy hours and because the owner was only available on Saturdays.
When participants first arrived, they were able to grab a seat, a handout and a pencil to take notes. I started off the event by introducing myself and the owner, then shared a bit about the three waves of coffee in the US. Then we jumped into the coffee. While I was talking about coffee history, the owner prepped the first drink. After serving the drinks, the owner would answer questions and speak about the different drinks. After that, I would jump in and talk about the books. While I was talking about the books, the owner would go prepare the next batch of drinks, and we kept flip-flopping so the drinks were all fresh when they were served.
We sent out a feedback survey after the event and received overwhelmingly positive feedback! Patrons enjoyed the play on wine pairings, and many said they were excited to try the new books and new drinks! There were also a lot of notes that patrons wanted this type of event again, so we may have to give it another go!
Advice
I would suggest doing it! I'm lucky that the coffee shop owner is on our board, and that made it more affordable for us. You could also do this with drinks at your library, maybe different K-Cups in a Keurig or a variety of teas instead of coffee.
This would also be an easy one to do with a younger audience. We did it for adults because the book recommendations were for more mature audiences, but you could easily adapt this for a teen/tween program and select YA or Juvenile books.
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